Android

Credit where credit’s due, Android Auto is jam-packed with features, and that’s all thanks to Google’s dedicated development push throughout the years. I remember how clunky and threadbare the driving companion was a few years ago. Now, drivers and passengers can accomplish a wide array of tasks without ever having to get their phones out or even touch the car screen, with even more promised this year. Despite my appreciation for Android Auto, especially as a daily user, I’m a realist. There are facets of the experience that Google can certainly improve, and one of the most glaring problem areas is its messaging system.

Late last month, YouTube announced that Premium subscribers will gain access to Peacock Premium content early next year, including the platform’s live sports and popular TV shows. The news was met with several skewed eyebrows from subscribers, especially given YouTube’s recent price increase. Does this give the company yet another reason to up the price of its Premium product in the future? My colleague Adamya Sharma detailed her qualms, suggesting that many users want a more robust Premium experience rather than more content from outside sources. But what do readers think of YouTube’s strategy?

When I dove into the world of productivity apps, “second brain” apps like Notion and Obsidian were promoted as a sort of Holy Grail. With their comprehensive features, you could create a personal knowledge management system for all your thoughts, tasks, and ideas. Rather than being spread out across different apps and notes, you would have a single, searchable source that you could use. And yet, they didn’t make me more productive. I switched between Notion, Obsidian, Tana, Anytype, NotebookLM (now Gemini Notebook), Logseq, and a variety of other apps — only to find my productivity waning.

Credit: Ryan Haines / Android Authority Samsung Gallery looks simple — maybe even boring — but don’t let that fool you. It’s one of the most feature-packed gallery apps on Android, and the fact that it doesn’t feel overwhelming is honestly part of the appeal. Google Photos gets most of the attention, but Galaxy users have a better alternative, and these features make the case better than I can.

I’ve been enjoying using the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, with its unique shape and powerful underlying hardware. But what I’ve been less impressed with is the continued subpar multitasking within the Z Fold 8’s software. The work laptop has been under constant attack from phones and tablets — and more recently, foldables — for the past several years. However, despite the onslaught, the humble portable computer has been doing well for several reasons.

Credit: Shimul Sood / Android Authority TL;DR Google is starting to roll out a new editing feature, called Moods, in Google Photos. These presets add AI-powered color edits to your existing images, with several options for a retro vibe. Moods are said to be available for users globally and across both Android and iOS soon. Google Photos has plenty of AI-powered features, and many of them are devoted to making your photos and videos stand out through automated edits. Google is now adding another feature to this list, and it adds a classic mood to your photos with a single tap. Back in June, we saw the first reference to a new “Moods” feature that appears on the Create tab in Google Photos. As with other features placed under the umbrella of Photos’ Create tab, Moods appears to use AI for quick color edits to your photos, including a range of filters with a retro vibe. The feature’s icon resembles an analog camera film, suggesting it leans on film-style aesthetics that now seem to be gaining popularity as part of the modern luddite movement on TikTok and other social media platforms. You can also get a digicam vibe with filters inspired by the 2000s.

TL;DR Multiple Galaxy Watch 9 and Watch Ultra 2 owners report that charging takes anywhere from two to four hours, far exceeding Samsung’s advertised 80-90-minute charging time. Aggressive thermal throttling and charger compatibility quirks appear to dial back power, forcing some users to rely on external cooling hacks. While the problem doesn’t impact every user, we have reached out to Samsung for official comment. The rollout of Samsung’s latest wearables, the Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, has brought plenty of excitement to wrist-tech enthusiasts, but a growing number of early adopters are hitting a frustrating wall. Despite promises of quick top-ups, users across Reddit and official forums are experiencing painfully slow charging speeds that stretch far beyond Samsung’s official figures. Samsung officially rates the 40mm Watch 9 at 80 minutes for a full 0-100% charge, while larger models like the 44mm Watch 9 and Watch Ultra 2 are rated for 90 minutes. However, real-world experiences tell a drastically different story. A 40mm Watch 9 owner documented that a full cycle took well over two hours, while a Watch Ultra 2 user reported waiting a whopping four hours under normal ambient room conditions.

TL;DR Spotify will start labeling AI-generated artist profiles with a new “AI Persona” label. It will also stop recommending music from such artists in its editorial and algorithmic recommendations. Artists can self-disclose as an AI Persona, but Spotify will also apply the label to other artist profiles that it suspects are AI-generated. Spotify has been hard at work helping listeners identify AI-created content. The streaming platform rolled out verification for music creators with its “Verified by Spotify” badges, and now it is planning to help users identify artists who have created their public identities using AI tools. The company today announced a new “AI Persona” label that it will display on artist profiles that may be AI-generated and do not represent a real person. This, Spotify hopes, will help users feel more confident trusting the artists behind the music they listen to.

Credit: Paul Jones / Android Authority TL;DR Samsung has released the fifth One UI 9 beta for the Galaxy S26 series. The update fixes a host of bugs and brings the August security patches. There’s no clarity on the stable One UI 9 release for Galaxy S26 and older devices yet. Even after the release of the stable One UI 9 with the Galaxy Z Fold 8 duo and the Flip 8, the not-so-recent flagships are still waiting for the update. Samsung has allowed Galaxy S26 owners to get a taste of the new features through an ongoing beta and is continuing forward with another release. Nearly a month after the last beta version — and after some unanticipated delay, Samsung has pushed out the fifth One UI 9 beta for the Galaxy S26 series. Tipster Tarun Vats shared the news of the release through a post on X, which also included a changelog of the update. According to Vats, the fifth One UI 9 beta build, with a build number ending in ZZH6, is currently only live for Korea and India. Meanwhile, we’ve also spotted a coinciding build for the UK. The update weighs in at around 1,125MB.

TL;DR Google Sheets can now preserve formatting and structural information while importing Excel files. Sheets now imports Excel worksheets as “Sheets tables.” It also keeps pivot tables intact, rather than converting them into static grids. Google has been steadily adding new features and improvements to Sheets, most recently offering Gemini integration and the ability to import 3D graphs from Excel sheets. Now, the web app is gaining even more improvements aimed at users importing Excel files into Google Sheets. Google announced in a blog post that Sheets is gaining two key improvements. First, when users import an Excel file into Sheets, its tables will be added as Sheets tables. This ensures that structural and formatting information remains intact and that Excel tables stay properly formatted when opened in Google Sheets.

TL;DR Google has fixed the drag-to-select bug in Google Photos. Users can now easily select photos and videos by dragging their finger over the items. The Google Photos app comes with a lot of useful features. You can use it to edit your photos, create collages, and more. However, one of its most basic and useful features recently stopped working for many. Several Google Photos users took to Reddit to report a bug that wouldn’t let them drag-to-select photos and videos in the app. Shortly after, Google confirmed it was working on a fix.

Credit: Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority TL;DR Google TV Freeplay now offers more than 10,000 free movies and TV shows on demand, with no subscription required. Google is also expanding Freeplay to more than 300 free live channels covering news, sports, reality TV, true crime, and more. The expanded catalog includes titles from studios such as A24 and Lionsgate, alongside new channels including Bloomberg TV Plus and Yahoo! Sports Network. Google is giving its free streaming service a major upgrade. Google TV Freeplay now offers more than 10,000 free movies and TV shows on demand, along with an expanded lineup of over 300 free live channels.

Credit: Oliver Cragg / Android Authority TL;DR The InfiMaker K1 is a desktop CNC mill that lets you make 3D objects without any prior milling experience. Its software uses AI to convert any 2D image into a 3D object, letting you operate it without any CAD experience. The InfiMaker K1 is now on Kickstarter, where you can back it with a starting pledge of $5,199. For the past decade, 3D printing has been cherished as the most popular (and now even affordable) way to make physical objects without much experience or elbow grease. But now, a new class of DIY-friendly methods for making 3D objects is becoming increasingly popular. Computer Numerical Control, more popularly known as CNC, has made its way to indoor workstations with equipment getting affordable (compared to an industrial-grade machine) and computer-aided manufacturing (or CAM) becoming easier to grasp for enthusiasts. This has given rise to compact desktop CNC mills that allow you to work with a variety of materials, such as metals, wood, or even a variety of thermoplastics. We recently tested one such desktop CNC mill, which let us create an Android mascot figurine without having to deal with computer-aided designing (CAD) at all. That’s what the creators of InfiMaker K1, a desktop CNC machine that uses AI to transform any 2D image into a 3D millable model, claim is its strongest point.

Credit: Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority TL;DR Google says it has fixed an issue that caused some smart lights to turn on without user input. The bug had been affecting Google Home users on iOS and involved lights from several different brands. Google hasn’t explained what caused the problem, but the original Reddit poster says their setup is back to normal. Google Home users had a slightly haunted-house problem on their hands earlier, with smart lights switching on by themselves without being asked. The good news is that Google now says the issue has been fixed. We reported on the bug this morning after users on Reddit described their connected lights turning on when they opened the Google Home app on iOS. In some cases, switching the lights back off didn’t help, as they would turn themselves on again seconds later. Reports involved lights from several brands, including Govee, Philips Hue, and Tapo, while the issue appeared to be limited to the iOS app.

TL;DR Waze users are reporting missing police alerts, with some saying their reports earn points but never appear on the map or reach other drivers. Some warnings are also arriving too late, with users reporting speed-camera and police alerts just seconds — or even feet — before the hazard. Waze has separately acknowledged an Android back-button bug following a recent update. Waze’s police alerts seem a little off right now. The Google-owned navigation app isn’t outright broken for all, but the issues that users are reporting aren’t entirely isolated either. Within the last week, disgruntled Waze users have taken to Reddit and the Google support forum to raise the alarm about issues with police reporting, disappearing alerts, and reports that don’t reach other drivers. Waze’s whole appeal is its community-first approach. Waze relies on its users to feed data into the app as they drive. See a crash? Quickly report it. Spot a hidden police cruiser? You can report it hands-free with your voice. However, as soon as that community-driven reporting approach starts acting up, the app’s whole appeal begins to fall apart.

Credit: Roland Quandt TL;DR A new leak provides marketing material for a new Pixel Buds Pro 2 colorway. The new color is reportedly called “Olive.” Sony recently unveiled a new colorway for the WH-1000XM6 called Olive Gray. The new tone is a muted green shade that fits in nicely with the rest of the collection. Sony’s headphones won’t be the only audio device getting the green treatment, apparently. A leak has revealed a new colorway coming to the Pixel Buds Pro 2. On Bluesky, WinFuture’s Roland Quandt shared the following images. These images appear to be marketing material for a new Pixel Buds Pro 2 color that could be announced at Made by Google tomorrow. According to Quandt, the color variant will be called “Olive.”

TL;DR A new app lets you run Samsung DeX locally on the Galaxy Z Fold without requiring a monitor. The app works with Z Fold models running One UI 8 or newer versions, according to the developer. It is currently available to try via an APK download, but a Play Store version could land soon. Samsung DeX is a useful utility that has been around for nearly a decade, letting you turn your Galaxy smartphone into a desktop for the big screen. While this has been its core purpose, there’s no denying that some users, especially those with foldables like one of the Galaxy Z Fold devices, may also enjoy a desktop-like experience directly on their phones. A developer has devised a solution to this with an app that runs DeX locally on Galaxy foldables. In a post on X, Japanese app developer Nobu has shared a minute-long video of their under-development app, known as DeX Inner Tester, that effectively turns your Galaxy Z Fold into a mini computer. The developer said a Play Store version will be landing soon, with the app currently available through an APK download (Thanks: Dylan H).

TL;DR Chrome can revoke notification permissions from inactive or abusive websites and limit heavy senders. Google says these protections have significantly reduced the volume of unwanted notifications and background activity. Android’s one-tap unsubscribe and Chrome 155’s redesigned permission prompt add more control over website notifications. Website notifications can be useful, but it’s easy for a single “Allow” tap to turn into a steady stream of unwanted alerts. According to Google, Chrome has significantly reduced that abuse through a combination of protections that can block problematic sites and limit how many notifications they send. Chrome can automatically revoke notification permissions from websites you haven’t recently used and remove access from sites that repeatedly trigger warnings for suspicious notifications. Even better, you can review and restore those permissions if you still want notifications from a particular site.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) are the company’s flagship true wireless earbuds, built for people who prioritize strong noise canceling and rich sound. There’s also a solid Amazon deal on them right now, which makes this a good time to take a look. See the deal at Amazon

TL;DR Google Health will soon integrate Abbott’s Lingo continuous glucose monitor to record real-time glucose data. CGM data will be combined with tracked data about exercise, nutrition, and sleep to produce AI-driven “metabolic health insights.” The integration requires a paid Google Health Premium subscription. It’ll be available later this year. Google’s teaming up with pharmaceutical giant Abbott to bring continuous glucose monitor (CGM) support to the Google Health app. Starting this year, Abbott’s Lingo CGM will be compatible with Google Health, letting users automatically import their glucose numbers into Google’s system. The collaboration was announced today in a press release from Abbott. With a Lingo CGM paired with Google Health, users can get “AI-powered, personalized health guidance” that takes into account fluctuations in blood glucose levels.

TL;DR Microsoft reportedly had plans for a Surface-branded Windows Phone years before the Surface Duo, with a 2013-2014 prototype recently revealed. The mysterious phone featured a 720p display, physical navigation buttons, a silver Surface-like chassis, and Windows Phone 8.1. The Nokia acquisition may have killed the project, while Microsoft’s eventual Surface Duo took a very different dual-screen approach that came with plenty of compromises. Microsoft’s Surface Duo and Surface Duo 2 were ambitious first attempts from a company that had little to no experience building smartphones all by itself. The Lumia phones did carry Microsoft’s software and branding, but those phones weren’t truly built just by Microsoft — they still carried a lot of Nokia’s DNA. 2020’s Surface Duo, arguably, was Microsoft’s first smartphone designed and developed as a true first-party Surface device on its own terms. But that almost wasn’t the case, as we get to see some prototype hardware. There could have been a Microsoft-built Surface smartphone all the way back in 2014, and it could have been unveiled alongside a Surface Pro device. The revelation comes from Windows Central, which has even shared images of what appears to be the long-forgotten Microsoft prototype.

Busy roads, crowded parking lots, and late-night drives are good reasons to have more eyes on your car. The BOTSLAB G980H 4K Starvis Dash Cam is built for that job, and there’s a solid Amazon deal on it right now. See the deal at Amazon

A flexible laptop can make a big difference when you need one device for work, school, streaming, and casual drawing. The Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 fits that kind of everyday use well, and there’s a solid deal on it at Best Buy right now. See the deal at Best Buy

The Nothing Phone 3 is one of the more eye-catching Android phones you can buy right now, with a look that stands out right away. Its transparent design and updated rear Glyph Matrix give it a very different style from most phones, and there’s a solid deal on it at Amazon right now, too. See the deal at Amazon

TL;DR Chromecast with Google TV devices are randomly disabling Wi-Fi or dropping connections after sitting idle. Standard fixes like factory resets only offer temporary relief, pointing to a deeper software glitch. Google is asking users to report the issue directly, but switching to a wired Ethernet adapter reliably solves it. Google’s Chromecast with Google TV remains one of the most popular streaming dongles on the market, but an infuriating connectivity bug is currently dampening the user experience for some owners. A growing number of users report that their streaming devices are randomly dropping Wi-Fi connections after remaining idle for a day or so, effectively breaking hands-free casting and automated smart home routines. I’ve actually run into this exact behavior on my Chromecast with Google TV from time to time. While my experience hasn’t been as frequent or severe as some of the more extreme cases circulating online — happening perhaps once every few weeks rather than multiple times a day — it remains an undeniably frustrating roadblock. Picking up the remote expecting to play music or stream a show, only to discover the device has quietly severed its network connection overnight, completely defeats the convenience of having a dedicated media hub.